


Beckett's Comforts

by Taylor Dancinghands (tdancinghands)



Series: Beckett's Rules of Discipline [2]
Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Angst, BDSM, Backstory, Episode Related, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-10
Updated: 2012-05-10
Packaged: 2017-11-05 03:18:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/401878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tdancinghands/pseuds/Taylor%20Dancinghands
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Now lovers, Radek and Carson strive to keep Rodney as a friend, and then the Siege throws all their routines out the window, and adds new complications.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beckett's Comforts

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers/Season: Season 1/2: "The Siege", pts 1, 2 & 3
> 
> Language/pronunciation notes: For some reason it's become important to me that y'all know how some of the words Radek is saying _sound_. In particular, the word 'pane' -which means 'sir'- has two syllables and is pronounced (more or less) PAN-eh. Also, when we eventually get to it, 'milačku' (in which the 'č' makes a 'ch' sound) is pronounced (again, more or less) MIL-ach-ku.

Radek and Carson's occasional evenings of play grew, in the weeks and months that followed, to be a regular thing, and as they grew more regular people began to notice. The two of them were, naturally, discreet, but as neither of them were military, nor US citizens for that matter, they did not trouble themselves much about who knew. That is, until Rodney figured it out.

As expected, he was hardly the first to realize that the two of them were together, but both Carson and Radek could tell when he had because his behavior changed, noticeably. His new, subdued and downright deferential demeanor puzzled them greatly until they realized that this new demeanor only manifested when he was with one or both of them. That was when the light bulb went on for Carson.

"Bloody hell," he exclaimed as he and Radek were discussing the conundrum of Rodney over dinner one evening. "Haven't you ever have a good mate of yours just plain disappear from your life when he got a girlfriend -or a boyfriend for that matter?"

"Ano," Radek agreed, "I have seen this phenomenon myself. Do you think that is what Rodney fears?"

"Aye, I'm certain of it," said Carson. "The man has such a hard time making friends, and it's not as though he's got a lot of folks to make new friends from, here. He'll be thinking he's lost his two best friends, and too tangled up in his feelings to do or say anything about it."

"What is to be done then?" Radek asked.

Carson thought for a moment, lips pursed in concentration, then raised his head, inspired. "We'll feed him," he said. "We'll invite him to dinner once a week... Friday, say, and for the first meal, to get him to come, we'll put together a feast he'll never be able to refuse."

Radek grinned in admiration, once again gratified to be keeping the company of men as brilliant as himself. "That is perfect, Carson," he replied, "and I know just what we can tempt him with."

Indeed, Rodney proved powerless before the prospect of cheese soup and corn bread and broiled, might-as-well-be-salmon filets, and of course, chocolate mousse for dessert. He even showed up on time and with a bottle of wine -earth wine- whose origins he refused to divulge. They were all a little awkward as the meal started, but the food and the wine put them at ease before long, and by the time that Rodney was swabbing up the last of his soup with the last bit of his corn bread and making little noises about promises of chocolate, they'd all fallen back into their old patterns -snarking and teasing and, when it was needed, talking about things that mattered.

Rodney needed a little nudging the first few weeks to remember that his invitation was a standing one, and not necessarily optional, but after the first month Friday dinners with Radek and Carson were ingrained into his routine. Half the science staff knew about them, as Rodney's Friday schedule often revolved around it and no one minded that staff meetings were no longer ever scheduled for Friday evenings.

The eventual impending arrival of the Wraith, of course, put an end to everyone's comfortable routines, though Carson made one attempt to deliver a fairly nice meal to Rodney and Radek one Friday night as they worked late in the labs. Soon, however, Carson had his own tasks that kept him working late into the night, and his and Radek's recreational liaisons also became a thing of the past.

Radek did not bat an eye when Rodney told him that they were going to need to finish the Genii nuclear bombs. It was war, Radek knew, and in war, there are sacrifices. He liked to think that he was as prepared as anyone to make them, whether it be by working 43 unbroken hours straight, or by building nuclear bombs, or by getting socked in the face by a deranged member of Rodney's team, or by getting saddled with the job of Temporary Science Division Head not 24 hours after recovering from amphetamine withdrawal.

All of this might have been a great deal more bearable if Carson hadn't gone back to earth with the rest of Atlantis' command staff, but Radek figured he'd be able to maintain until his lover got back. He really wasn't expecting the dreams, and they just about undid him. He hadn't had them in years -in decades truthfully, but they were just as eerily vivid as ever. The creepy, grainy, black and white images of the little farmstead, its livestock lying in little crumpled heaps, here and there, were just like the films he been shown so long ago, but in his dreams there were people there as well -bodies, slumped over kitchen tables and on living room floors, and out on the pale, dead lawns. They were people he knew and recognized, as always, his parents, sister, aunts and uncles, and grandparents, scattered about the place, as dead as the sheep and cattle who'd succumbed to the poisons dispensed by weapons he'd designed.

Radek gave up on sleeping altogether after three nights interrupted thusly, and did not need any amphetamines to keep him awake. He avoided his staffs with the easily believable excuse of paperwork, and counted the seconds until Carson returned. When the Daedalus finally arrived, however, it brought a troubling tale with it and Radek knew that Carson would not have time or attention for him until he was satisfied that Rodney's radiation exposure would not have serious consequences. Retiring to his quarters after having finally been able to brief the newly returned Dr. Weir, Radek struggled with fatigue for only a little while, before optimistically wondering if maybe just knowing that Carson was back would be enough to dissuade his dreams. He fell asleep the second his head hit the pillow and woke again some hours later, shouting with horror and weeping.

Stumbling out of bed, Radek headed straight to the toilet where he threw up every bit of what had been a perfectly good dinner. He remained kneeling on the floor for several minutes, sides heaving as he sniffled back tears, and then pushed himself up, dressed shakily and made his way through the darkened corridors to Carson's room.

Carson was, in fact, not yet in bed when Radek appeared at his door, having stayed late in the infirmary looking after Rodney and Colonel Sheppard. Radek could see how tired he was and for a moment considered excusing himself somehow, and returning quietly to his own room so that Carson could get the rest he surely needed. The moment their eyes met, though, Carson could see there was something amiss. He pulled Radek out of the corridor and closed the door behind him, then held him at arms length to regard him with concern.

"Radek, love, what's wrong?" The care in Carson's voice undid him, and Radek could do nothing but confess the truth.

"They made me build bombs again," he said. "And I know it was for good reason. I would not have let them make me do that if it hadn't been. And I had been awake for... for days by then. I hardly knew what I was doing, but then... then it was over, and then I was getting off amphetamines... and then you were gone and I was in charge..." Carson reached out to run his fingers over Radek's face, encouraging him with a touch, and so Radek went on.

"And then... the dreams came... the old dreams... and I have not slept in four days..."

Carson drew him close then, and Radek fell into Carson's embrace with soul-deep relief. Carson's presence alone would not subdue these demons, but he might just have the means to do so. He had to let Carson know, though, that he wasn't expecting a scene this evening, no matter how wretched he felt.

"I know you are tired," he said, "and I am not asking for anything tonight. I only... it will be enough if you will just hold me, please."

"Of course, love," said Carson, arms tightening around him. "And I'll be pleased to have you share my bed tonight as well, for I have missed you."

"Ano, pane," Radek sighed as Carson lead him there and sat him down. "Dekuju, milacku."

"Let's have your things off then," Carson instructed gently, "and I'll be back in just a moment." Radek nodded, slipping his glasses off before pulling his shirt over his head as Carson stepped away to use the bathroom. Radek was naked as requested, his clothes draped neatly over the foot of the bed, when Carson returned.

"Did you bring your collar, love?" he asked as he sat down beside him on the bed. Radek nodded once more, reaching over to claim it from the side table. He felt something ease inside him as Carson buckled it around his neck and luxuriated in the comfort of Carson’s arms.

Radek was dead tired, and fell asleep again the moment the two of them were settled, but his sleep did not remain untroubled. It seemed horribly unfair that he should suffer the same dream twice in one night, and waking in Carson’s close embrace did little to ease his heart.

“Forgive me,” he murmured when he was sure of his voice. “Now I have disturbed your sleep as well. I should not have come.”

Carson, naturally, would hear none of this. “Of course you should have come,” he said, holding Radek tight, as though he was liable to escape. “I’ve promised to be here for you whenever you need it, not just when it’s convenient to me. Besides, it’s almost time to get up anyway. Do you think you can tell me about your dream, then?”

Radek, of course, would rather not, but he owed Carson this, if nothing else and so, slowly and reluctantly, he told Carson the story of how he had finally come to realize the real horror of what he was doing, working in Soviet weapons labs. The officials who’d put together the tests and filmed them had brought them into the labs to show them to Radek and his team with the expectation that he and the other scientists there would get some real pleasure and satisfaction out of this proof of the effectiveness of their work. Indeed, Radek had held similar expectations, but instead those stark, grainy images had touched something in him, and he’d never been the same since.

Carson held and soothed him as he related this tale, his compassion seemingly limitless, then gently explained to Radek how he was, impossibly, going to make it better.

“Now I want you to go to the labs the same as always,” he said, “and I’ll take your collar off just before you go, but I want you to come back here for lunch, at twelve thirty promptly, and I’ll be here to meet you and you’ll wear your collar for your lunch hour. In the evening I’ll want you home at seven o’clock on the dot, and you’ll have your collar on the moment you come through the door.”

Radek nodded as he listened, rejoicing quietly that Carson seemed to really understand what it was he needed and was willing to help.

“There’ll be some hard punishment for you; I can see that’s needed,” Carson continued, “and we’ll carry on like this until it’s not, no matter how long it takes.”

“Thank you, pane,” Radek said, with real gratitude, and for the first time in days, a little hope in his heart.

Fulfilling that hope was going to take a bit of work, however.

Carson had brought back with him from Earth a number of toys which got quite a work out over the course of the next week or so. On that first night Radek received over a dozen hard strokes with a riding crop and then Carson fucked him hard and fast and sent him to bed without coming. 

In spite of this, Radek found himself waking late that night shaking with dismay as before.

“It’s not enough,” he cried with dismay. “It is still not enough! God help me, will I never be free of these horrors?”

Carson held him with strong arms, comforting him with his words and steadfast presence. "We'll do what's needed love, whatever you need I'll be here for you; have no fear."

And the next day Carson was as good as his word. He made Radek suck his cock over lunch and then again that night after a sound paddling (another one of the new toys he'd brought from earth.) Still, it was not yet enough to banish Radek's nightmares. Carson remained undaunted. The next night after that he produced a rattan cane which he confessed he'd not been sure if he'd ever want to use, and then he'd had to gag Radek so that his cries would not disturb their neighbors. After he'd left Radek's backside thoroughly marked, he'd fucked him hard in the mouth _and_ the arse and then sent him to bed, still without having come, and with his hands cuffed behind his back. And that night Radek had, at last, slept the night though.

Carson kept this up over the next few days, finally allowing Radek release three days later, and then he'd made Radek do it himself while he watched. By this time, Radek's off-hours deep submission had become a routine for both of them, to the point that they hardly thought about it. They were still well into this routine when Rodney showed up for dinner, as expected, the next Friday.

Radek had come home and had Carson put his collar on hours before, and had frankly forgotten that he was wearing it. He still had his shirt on and the collar was only half visible under it. Rodney McKay may have been notoriously slow to pick up on social cues, but it could not be said that he was unobservant. He was, after all, a brilliant scientist. He caught sight of Radek's collar as the two of them were setting out plates for dinner and blinked in surprise.

"That's a novel fashion accessory for you, Radek," he commented blandly.

Blanching, Radek's hands flew up to his collar, his first, foolish instinct to take the thing off and hide it, though it was now far too late.

"I… I had forgotten I had it on," he stammered.

Rodney shrugged, apparently unphased. "It suits you," he said. "Is that ah… how it is between the two of you then?" he asked noncommittally.

By now Carson had picked up on the conversation, stepping into the room to lay a hand protectively on Radek's shoulder. "Aye," he said without prevarication, "it is. Does that trouble you, Rodney?"

Rodney shrugged once more. "You're both intelligent, consenting adults," he said, "and really, it's none of my business, is it?"

Carson's hand remained on his shoulder, but Radek could feel the man relax behind him. "Aye," he said again, "but not everyone would say so. We appreciate your… open mindedness."

"You've seen who I work with," he said. "I couldn't possibly deal with these people if I felt like I had to pass judgment on their personal lives."

"True enough," agreed Radek, "and besides, nothing we do is ever going to be half so annoying as Dr. Stammitz's constant preaching on the moral superiority of a vegan lifestyle."

"God, you'd better not," said Rodney, rolling his eyes. "But speaking of food, I'm starving and what I'm smelling definitely isn't vegan, is it?"

And from then on, all was as it had always been.

 

The subject did not come up again, but Radek found himself continuing to puzzle over Rodney's matter-of-fact reaction to his discovery of the nature of Radek and Carson's relationship. He was still wondering about it later that evening as he settled himself next to Carson, striving to keep the covers away from his nipples, which had just been most dreadfully abused with another one of the toys Carson had brought back from earth.

"Do you think that he has any actual scene experience?" he wondered aloud, "or just heard a few things?"

"What, Rodney?" Carson asked, relaxed and sated with Radek folded into his arms. "I doubt it. It doesn't seem likely."

"I would tend to agree," relied Radek, "and yet… I felt certain that he would be… unsettled at least, to learn of how it was with us, and yet he was not at all. I fear we have underestimated him."

"Aye," said Carson, "you may be right."

"I cannot help but wonder," Radek mused, "if he will surprise us again, some day."

"I don't know, lad," mused Carson sleepily. "I don't know."


End file.
